Landing a distribution deal for George Lucas' Star Wars proved a headache for Fox as no theater was interested in the 1977 sci-fi epic.
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)
Star Wars is a global pop culture phenomenon that began with George Lucas' original 1977 film. The film was a major commercial success and laid the foundation for the franchise, which Lucas expanded into the original trilogy, followed by several spin-offs and supplementary media. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that almost no one believed in the project back in the day.
According to distribution executives working in 1977, Star Wars was almost exclusively discouraged by theaters. Furthermore, no theater was even particularly interested in playing the sci-fi film for a very understandable reason. As a result, the film had to be packaged with another more highly anticipated film, ensuring that Star Wars would play in theaters, and here goes the story.
Star Wars was released in 1977 and became a pioneer of modern sci-fi and blockbuster cinema. But when the film was first being prepped for release, no one, including its production studio, 20th Century Fox, had little faith in the film.
